Chick Chat aims to help girls deal with life's problems

Christine Bruun of TriCity Family Services works with fifth-grade girls during last year's Chick Chat in Geneva. (Jaime Foster, Handout)

Handling rumors, gossip and teasing may no longer be such a difficult part of growing up for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade girls who attend the second annual Chick Chat in Geneva Feb. 22.

The all-day event, held at Geneva Middle School South and organized by the Geneva Coalition for Youth and TriCity Family Services is meant to guide the girls in building stronger relationships, exploring their personal strengths and weaknesses and developing their sense of self. It also equips them with strategies to deal with stress, embarrassment, disappointments and rumors.

Last year's event drew 100 girls from schools in Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and Burlington. This year, organizers expect the program to grow.

"We're looking to start a movement and empower girls and give them the tools they need to really live life to their full potential," said Julie Pouilly, president of the Geneva Coalition for Youth, one of the Geneva event's organizers. "It's just an amazing program."

A little over a year ago coalition members realized that their efforts to dissuade teens from using drugs and alcohol could only do so much, Pouilly said, so they decided to take a step back and consider how to address the "underlying issues," like bullying and the desire to fit in at an earlier age.

In Downers Grove, the Chick Chat, which is in its ninth year, has grown to 350 girls from almost 30 different schools.

"It's always been our dream that we can share our curriculum with other organizations," said Mary Ellen Young, co-founder of HGNA and a former Downers Grove District 58 school board member. "(The Geneva group has) been wonderful to work with and they've really helped us refine our vision."

The Chick Chat begins with an opening ceremony and then the girls form groups of 12 for two morning sessions, each an hour and a half long: "Friends, Frenemies and Fiascoes" and "Be Your Best Self." The first session focuses on navigating relationships and the second focuses on exploring personal feelings and managing stress.

"It's not sitting and learning; it's quite interactive and it's fun," Pouilly said. "No breakout session is repeated so every year it will change so that it better reflects what's going on in the girls' lives at that time."

In one session, the girls are asked to write down rumors they hear girls say about each other on blank puzzle pieces. The facilitator, who is a professional social worker or counselor, then scatters the puzzle pieces around the room and tasks the girls with putting their puzzles back together.

"In the meantime she's hidden some of the puzzle pieces to illustrate that once you say something there's no way of getting it back," Young said. "By acting it out they really experience it more than just telling them."

After lunch, all girls participate in a 45-minute yoga session followed by a 45-minute team-building exercise.

Last year in Geneva, practicing yoga was the best part of the day for nearly 100 percent of the girls, Pouilly said.

"I do yoga and I know how I feel after yoga," Young said. "Our kids are so busy. Many of them don't have the ability to sit quietly and breathe and just see what that feels like in their body. Of course they love it."

The success with the yoga program inspired the Geneva coalition to start a yoga club this month at Shine in Batavia to allow girls to take what they learn at Chick Chat a step further. The club will meet monthly on Sundays, starting Feb. 23.

Registration for each session is $10, but girls can sign up for all four session for just $35.

"We just want these girls to feel like they have a place they can go where they can really release and relax," Pouilly said.

Meanwhile, HGNA is working on writing a manual to disperse next year so that organizations all over the country can apply the Chick Chat curriculum in their communities.